 | We need nine wins and every game now is a cup final for us Leeds assistant boss Gus Poyet |
Leeds United are already occupying the lowest league position in their 88-year history - but how can they stop things from getting any worse?
The beleaguered Elland Road club have won only one of their last 10 matches and are six points adrift of safety at the bottom of the Championship.
With 18 games left, a first-ever relegation to the third tier of English football is looming - and time is running out for Dennis Wise's side to save themselves.
| 606 VIEW |
Four new faces have arrived during the January transfer window but results have yet to improve and a difficult trip to fellow strugglers Hull City awaits on Saturday.
The Leeds squad are at a training camp in Cyprus this week and Wise's assistant Gus Poyet tells BBC Sport how they plan to beat the drop.
TEAM BONDING
This camp is to sort things out for the rest of the season. We are getting the players together to concentrate on the task ahead.
We knew we were signing new players - and we knew we needed the new players to get to know the rest of the squad as soon as possible.
This was the last opportunity to get all the lads together and make sure we know what is coming. 
WHAT MATTERS NOW
There are three months of the Championship left in which we have to win at least half of our games.
| BOTTOM OF THE CHAMPIONSHIP 18th Leicester....P28 Pts 33 19th Hull City......P29 Pts 31 20th Luton Town P29 Pts 31 21st QPR.............P29 Pts 30 22nd Barnsley....P29 Pts 29 23rd Leeds Utd...P28 Pts 24 24th Southend....P29 Pts 24 |
Every game is a cup final to get those wins - and no other results are any good to us.
From now until the end of the season, let's say there is a table in there from Leicester, who are nine points ahead of us, downwards.
There are teams with points already and we are on zero with Southend. That is a mini-league that we have to win, or at least make sure we are not in the bottom three.
Results matter now more than performances. It is not how we get those wins that matters, just that we get them.
You cannot say that at the beginning of the season when you have got 46 games in front of you but when you reach this stage, with the position we are in, it is definitely not about performances anymore.
To be fair we have played better than before in our last four games but we have only won one of them.
When you play well it should be easier to win games because when you play well you are supposed to be creating chances and in control of the game but it is not working for us.
NO EXCUSES
| WISE & POYET AT LEEDS |
We knew it would be hard when we came here from Swindon in October.
We knew from the first day the situation with the players and the financial situation. All that was clear so we cannot complain about that.
This club is huge. It is a beautiful club to work at and has so much potential - but for now our only aim is to stay in the Championship.
| WISE & POYET AT SWINDON |
And I am still confident we can do it. Even if we have lost a few games and we are running out of matches.
That is why we need the points now - and when I say now, I mean the next game, not the following week.
But we have already proved we can score goals so as soon as we put right the small things we doing wrong at the back I am confident we can turn around the results.
STICKING TOGETHER
| LEEDS' JANUARY SIGNINGS Tresor Kandol (�0.2m) Tore Andre Flo (free) Robbie Elliott (free) Miguel Armando Sa (loan) Alan Thompson (loan) |
The supporters have been absolutely magnificent so far. We have had great support considering the position we are in.
The only thing I can say to them is to keep going like that until the end of the season. At the end of the season they can make their opinions known but we need to stick together right now - we really do need all the help we can get until the very last.
The team spirit is better now - it is quite good. We have got better fitness and like I said before we have been playing better.
But all that together is not enough. We need something extra and we have to make sure that comes in the next game.
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
Feature: Fans discuss Leeds' problems
